


Sleeping On The Job

by sn0wghost



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Angst, Cute, Cutesy, Denied Romance, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Past Relationship(s), Relationship(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 11:12:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8325541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sn0wghost/pseuds/sn0wghost
Summary: Abby has a terrible habit of not being able to leave the firehouse on time. Patty has a terrible habit of thinking about Abby all the time.





	

If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.

Time and time again, Abby found herself falling asleep just inside the lab doors; a blanket kept under Kevin’s desk purely for this purpose (it wasn’t a cape like he thought, but whatever kept him away from the phones), a pillow beside the proton pack racks. The girls could come and go whenever they wanted, of course, and most of them would crawl out before midnight and head to their respective homes. Elbow-deep in some sort of broth and a book, Abby would nod them all out of the door, graciously accepting the cheek kisses and nuzzles from Holtz, and the warm embraces of Patty, before they all finally filtered out of the fire house.

Sometimes, though, those hugs from Patty made it even harder for Abby to keep her eyes open. A gentle energy would seep from every pore of Patty’s skin, dousing Abby in a tonic of relaxation and peace. More often than not, Abby had enough sense of mind to at least grab the pillow before heading for the chair. She’d wake, soon enough, maybe at 5am. Maybe. Drool down her chin and cramped muscles forced into submission by a seat meant for poised and dedicated work. Enough time to stumble home, bathe, and traipse back to the lab before anyone knew what was happening.

Until one night, curious and wired, Patty makes her way back to the lab as the streetlights are shutting off, a phrase rotating round and round her mind. Something Erin had said about attraction, about the chemicals, there was a book Patty hadn’t had the nerve to lift from the accumulation of studies the group had found over the past few months. The front cover was bland, studious, like a grade school textbook; but inside, the few pages Patty had managed to snatch while the others were distracted, were verses and lines made to set fire to even the coldest of hearts.

For a month now, walking home through the bustling streets of New York, Patty’s heart warmed her body on the cold journey. The smell of Abby’s hair trapped in the folds of her scarf, the feel of Abby’s little hands clasping at her back; every nuance of their goodbye hug, each night, played through Patty’s mind until she fell asleep, torn between bliss and heartache. It was unprofessional to harbour these feelings for a workmate. Years of work for the MTA had engraved a sense of guilt for even entertaining the idea, memories of a twenty-something Patty falling head over heels for Mark on the Canal Street line, their few nights together, his abrupt dismissal. It was no Ghost Girl episode, but it made Patty’s blood boil even now. He left town on account of her, essentially. Patty couldn’t live through that again.

So she was heading back to the firehouse when no one would be around - maybe Dr. Gorin, but that woman was essentially part of the equipment - to grab the book and learn more about … herself, really. If there was a way to untrain, to unlearn, to move on before it could become anything messy and horrible, it would be in that wonderful, wonderful book. Holtzmann would question her until she broke, Erin would muscle in to find something about Kevin, and Abby? God, the thought didn’t even bare thinking about. Patty’s resolve was so weak when it came to the tiny brunette, she would buckle down and cling to her waist if Abby so much as guessed at Patty’s wandering mind.

“Get the book, get out,” Patty kept murmuring, climbing the subway stairs and breathing in the familiar scents of New York. She still couldn’t quite get accustomed to the absence of Chinese food smells, even after all this time. It was common for her to order Abby some sort of soup, not only for the delight that would come over her - and therefore the rest of the team, as far as Patty could tell - but for the gentle spices swirling over the chemicals, compounds, and confusion. Breathing in the sweet and sour broth, sometimes Patty would catch her breath and fight with every fibre of her being to Not. Look. Over. It was torture, and it was time to stop.

Unlocking the door, Patty switched on the low lights, knowing exactly where she left the book in preparation for this back track. Stalking across the floor, intent and focused, until a … _Was that a snore? Nah, couldn’t be._

Continuing toward the shelves, beside a pot of something purple that had spent a week bubbling of it’s own accor… _That. What was that? It had to be something._

Turning, slowly, within arm’s reach of the fated text, Patty’s chest holding on to fear and the gust of air that had been building in readiness for escape of the building. Until it fell from her lips, rushing over the floor and right on over to where she saw… Abby. Of all the forms, of all the creatures, in all the world, to be in the same building right now. Patty was almost certain she would rather face Rowan’s apocalypse again. Until Abby moved, shifted just slightly, enough to tip her forward from the office chair. Throwing herself forward, Patty landed on top of the floor, and underneath Abby. Battling for air, adrenaline coursing through her veins, she was almost ready to push up and off when, “... Patty?” A gentle voice croaked out, “What’re you doin’ in muh apartment?”

“Honey, we’re at the firehouse,” Patty replied, lifting them both up, using Abby’s confused and sleepy state to keep the brunette against her just a little longer, “Why aren’t you at home?”

Abby was leaning in to Patty, eyes blinking into focus and limbs stretching out, feeling incredibly comfortable exactly where she was, thank you very much.

“I-... it’s not important, Abby. I just left something here,” Patty grumbled, suddenly aware of their proximity, remembering exactly why she was there, “I-I can go now, you should do the same.”

“Patty?”

“... Yeah?”

“You’re not moving. And you’ve got me held pretty tight.”

“Oh! Sorry! Sorry, I can-”

“No!” Abby grabbed onto Patty, practically forcing them even closer; certainly closer than their usual goodbye hugs got them, “I … uh … I mean. You’re comfy, y’know? And I’m not quite awake, and you’re not in a good position to move cos you’ll hurt yourself, and you’re a really good support system, and I’m gonna need someone to help me get up in a minute andyou’resonicetobearoundandIjustwanttostaylikethisaminuteplease.”

“...Abby?”

“Yeah?”

“If I kiss you, will you shut up?”

“Well, you know us scientists, we’re very much about experimenting and since you have a theory I really think you ought to put it in to pra- umf!”

It was everything they had both been imagining. Fireworks, even in Abby’s fuddled and sleepy brain, exploded behind her eyes and in her mind. Rushing forces slammed through Patty’s veins, all the hours of dreaming this moment up could never compare the reality of this slice of time. Forget the book, forget the chair, forget the soup and all else.

 

God only knows Abby and Patty already had.


End file.
